news

Daisy Veitch, HFESA member, expert in human body size and shape (an anthropometrist) & its application to the apparel industry, was in the press recently (The Weekend Australian magazine April 5-6 2008). The article “Bigger, Taller, Wider” was looking at our changing body shape. Veitch and Professor Henneberg carried out a National Size and Shape survey released in 2004 which involved taking 65 individual body measurements from men & men across the country.

To read the full article, go to

WorkSafe and Australia’s biggest safety professional organisations and educators are joining forces to improve services to the business community.

“OHS professional associations, vocational trainers and educators are a vital part of the safety chain,” WorkSafe’s Executive Director, John Merritt, said.

WorkSafe and Australia’s biggest safety professional organisations and educators are joining forces to improve services to the business community.

“OHS professional associations, vocational trainers and educators are a vital part of the safety chain,” WorkSafe’s Executive Director, John Merritt, said.

“The good OHS practitioners will become better while others with the potential to improve will have the opportunity to be supported by a professional body.”

“While each organisation will retain its autonomy, professional associations will develop agreed service standards, improved professional development, transparent complaints systems and potential disciplinary procedures for breaches of standards.

“Significantly we will seek to boost the profile of occupational health among medical students and the broader medical community.

“The benefit will be that more consistent information will be provided to the community by people trained to a high defined standard.

Mr Merritt said professional associations, universities and other training organisations could also help WorkSafe do its job better.

“These groups are in direct contact with workplaces and safety professionals and have experience and information which we can draw on.

“Along with unions and employer associations which are already consulted about WorkSafe’s projects and direction, the input from safety professionals will provide different perspectives and specialist expertise as we develop future plans.

“WorkSafe is committed to being constructive, accountable, transparent and effective.

“By working more closely with professional bodies and training organisations we will achieve higher levels of professionalism and improved service on both sides.

WorkSafe is currently reviewing its web based directory of service providers that has been in place for many years and hopes to replace it with a greatly improved service.

“The current directory does not reflect the skills and professional standards of the respective listings. By working through professional bodies, greater consistency will be achieved with consumers and industry as a whole to benefit.

“The listed companies are being encouraged to work with the professional associations to detail their expertise and qualifications to better target their work,” Mr Merritt said.


Working party members:

• Australian and New Zealand Society of Occupational Medicine
• Australian College of Occupational Health Nurses
• Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists
• Congress of Safety and Health Association Presidents
• Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia
• The Royal Australasian College of Physicians
• Royal Australian Institute of Architects
• Safety Institute of Australia
• WorkSafe’s Occupational Health and Safety Advisory committee
• Chisholm Institute of TAFE
• Deakin University
• Holmesglen Institute of TAFE
• Innovation and Business Skills Australia
• La Trobe University
• Monash University
• RMIT University
• Swinburne University of Technology
• University of Ballarat
• Victoria University


Media inquiries: Michael Birt - 9641 1216 or 0411 256 605.

Come to the Future Inquiry Workshop, facilitated by Andrea Shaw and Verna Blewett, to be held in your branch. Encourage others to attend.

Future Inquiry is a participative planning technique, built on appreciative inquiry and the future search conference. Future Inquiry involves representatives of key stakeholder groups to bring “the whole system” into the room. The workshop identifies the needs of the stakeholders, as well as identifying and affirming the lessons that can be learned from the experience of others. It means our plan, being grounded in the experience of the stakeholders, is more likely to address the real world, to contain concrete actions, to build commitment to action, and to allow differences between stakeholders to be acknowledged without causing conflict.

Workshops have been scheduled for Vic, WA, SA, QLD, NSW and ACT during March and April.

For further details, please visit the Calendar, or download the flyer:

The Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) is an internationally recognised centre, which undertakes a multi-disciplinary research program in a broad range of injury prevention areas.

For more information, please download the Position Description:

The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia (HFESA) is holding its Annual Conference at the University of Technology, Sydney from the 20 th – 23rd November 2006. The conference will focus on the application of human factors and ergonomics to new technology in both large and small scale systems.

Some highlights of the conference will be:

• John Wilson, Professor of Human Factors and Risk at the University of NSW, exploring new approaches to conducting research on complex systems, focusing on the very topical issue of rail safety;
• Colin Drury, Distinguished Professor and Chair of Industrial Engineering at the University at Buffalo, reporting on the role of ergonomics in future work, including outsourcing and home working;
• Ann Williamson, Acting Director NSW Injury Risk Management Research Centre, speaking on the benefits and limitations of collecting self-reported information and approaches to overcoming the limitations;
• Yvonne Toft, Senior Lecturer in OHS at Central Queensland University, will describe the EQUID certification program. EQUID is the development of criteria for assessing the inclusion of ergonomics in design processes – in effect, the development of an “Ergonomics Tick” for ergonomically-friendly products;
• Neil Adams, Sydney consultant and Fellow of the HFESA, explores conditions that can lead to the onset of stress reactions in NSW Police;
• Jemma Coleman, Researcher at Curtin University of Technology, reviewing the impact of computers on the development of a child’s musculoskeletal system; and
• Charlotte Brace, of the UK Ergonomics and Safety Research Institute, will discuss the design of alternative transport systems for older road users.